India's Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar underlines growing global concerns on food and energy security

PHNOM PENH: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar laid emphasis on global concerns on food and energy security in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war while participating in the 17th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Sunday.

While addressing the Summit, the Vice President of India "underlined the growing global concerns on food and energy security and called for EAS Members' full contribution to the International Year of Millets in 2023." The United Nations General Assembly has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets. This was adopted by a United Nations Resolution for which India took the lead and was supported by over 70 nations.

It will help to create awareness throughout the world of the importance of millet, its role in sustainable agriculture, and its benefits as a smart superfood. India is poised to become the global hub for millets with a production of more than 170 lakh tonnes and producing more than 80 per cent of the millets produced in Asia, according to a Ministry of Agriculture press release.

He also highlighted the importance of the East India Summit mechanism in promoting a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific with freedom of navigation and overflight. Jagdeep Dhankhar on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit also met with US President Joe Biden who landed on Saturday in Cambodia to attend the summit.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar also held a good meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed Ukraine, Indo-Pacific, energy, G20 and bilateral relations. On the sidelines, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two leading think tanks of Cambodia and India respectively which is aimed at bringing the two nations together at the people-to-people level.

The two institutions, engaged in the realm of public policy, will endeavor to cooperate more closely to enhance their mutual understanding on a range of issues from geopolitics and international relations to sustainable development and cultural engagement, said a statement. At a time of great geopolitical and geoeconomic turbulence in the Indo-Pacific, there is no real substitute for mutual understanding and knowledge. This MoU intends to bring together the youth, academia and the public policy community of the two nations so as to carve out a more substantive bilateral engagement.

This year marks a special milestone as India and ASEAN are celebrating the 30th anniversary of India-ASEAN relations. To commemorate the milestone, the year 2022 has been designated as Inda-ASEAN Friendship Year. ANI

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